Featured Image Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News
Rhiannon Ingle
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News
United States President Donald Trump has just received a golden 'America First' award at the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual fundraising dinner in Washington, D.C.
House Speaker Mike Johnson introduced the 79-year-old Republican at the event on Wednesday (25 March), where he delivered an hour-long speech which saw him call out several former presidents.
"If you go back to Obama, he was a great divider. He divided this nation," Trump claimed. "He was a lousy president. The worst president in history was Biden. But Obama was a terrible president."
He also took the opportunity to call out the Democrats' opposition to the SAVE Act, short for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which is a proposed US federal elections bill backed by allies of Trump.
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Its central aim is to tighten voter registration rules by requiring Americans to present documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.
Supporters argue the bill protects election integrity and prevents non-citizens from voting, while opponents say those cases are extremely rare and warn the policy could create new barriers for millions of eligible voters.
"You have those Democrats; they stick together. Think of it - they vote against voter ID, they vote against proof of citizenship. They vote against it," Trump declared, adding he's 'a fan of no mail-in ballots' despite reportedly voting by post in this week's Florida special election.
Before his speech, Johnson gave Trump the first-ever annual 'America First Award', which he said was a 'token of appreciation' for the president’s leadership.
"Tonight we have created a new award," Johnson told the crowd. "We are going to do something we’ve never done before. We’re going to honour him with a new award that we will present annually from this point forward.
"He is the suitable and fitting recipient of the first-ever America First award. We can think of no better title for what that is."
Gesturing to the golden eagle statue, Johnson continued: "That is this beautiful golden statue here, appropriate for the new golden era in America."
Elsewhere in his speech, Trump also mentioned the war with Iran, claiming the Middle Eastern nation is keen to make a deal 'so badly'.
On Wednesday, Iran rejected Trump's peace plan and laid out five conditions to end the war.
Taking to Truth Social earlier this morning (26 March), the 79-year-old Republican issued a response, writing: "The Iranian negotiators are very different and 'strange'.
"They are 'begging' us to make a deal, which they should be doing since they have been militarily obliterated, with zero chance of a comeback, and yet they publicly state that they are only 'looking at our proposal'.
"WRONG!!! They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won’t be pretty! President DJT."